The present invention relates generally to communication networks and devices that operate thereon and, more particularly, to sharing location information between devices on a communication network.
When people communicate today through, for example, email, Instant Messaging (IM) programs, Short Message Service (SMS) messages, etc., the messages are often limited to simple text information and/or attachments containing text, graphic files, audio files, video files, and the like. When people plan to meet at a specific place, individuals typically try to describe the location or, if known, provide a street address or other type of identifying information, which the recipient may then provide as input to a mapping application, such as, for example, mapping applications provided Yahoo, Google, and Mapquest. Similarly, if a computer user is reviewing a Website of a business and decides he/she wants to visit the business, the user may obtain the address of the business from the Website and provide that address to a mapping application as described above. Alternatively, the business Website may provide a link to a map that contains directions to the business location when approaching from various locations. Thus, for a user to obtain more detailed information about a location, such as, for example, directions from a current location or reference information related to the location, the user may need to make use of a public mapping application or seek out the detailed information on a Website or other location information source. Services, such as evite.com, may allow email invitations to be sent with a link to a map for a given address. The recipient may still need to print the map and directions or hand write the directions to make effective use of the map and/or directions, however.